Mercury from industrialized nations is polluting the Arctic – here’s how it gets there

December 15, 2017

Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska. Plants on the Arctic tundra absorb mercury from the air, then transfer it to soil when they die. Credit: Paxson Woelber, CC BY

By Daniel Obrist, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell. Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska. Plants on the Arctic tundra absorb mercury from the air, then transfer it to soil when they die. Paxson Woelber, CC BY Scientists have long understood that the Arctic is affected by…